THE RAGE AGAINST THE DYING OF THE LIGHT
by LenSilvan
Summary: Xander Harris (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) is 668 year-old-(Hellsing) vampire who starts to training Pearl Jones (American Vampire) in BtVS Season 3 Sunnydale.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: **This prologue contains the prologue of another story of mine called BORN TO THE SWEET DELIGHT because you need to know where True Vampire Adam/Xander came from. This story will start from BtVS Season 3, Episode 13 (The Zeppo).

**Summary:** Xander Harris is turned into Hellsing Vampire by Helena from the Hellsing Anime and is sent back in time. To make things a bit more confusing, Xander is Helena's sire, which makes him his own grand-sire. This is the story of True Vampire Xander's return to Sunnydale after 668 years.

**DISCLAIMER:** Series trademarks, all publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The author is not in any way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise, and makes no money from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

_"Do not go gentle into that good night,  
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;  
Rage, rage against the dying of the light._

_Though wise men at their end know dark is right,  
Because their words had forked no lightning they  
Do not go gentle into that good night._

_Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright  
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,  
Rage, rage against the dying of the light._

_Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,  
And learn, too late, they grieve it on its way,  
Do not go gentle into that good night._

_Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight  
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,  
Rage, rage against the dying of the light._

_And you, my father, there on the sad height,  
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.  
Do not go gentle into that good night.  
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.."_

**_― Dylan Thomas, Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night_**

* * *

**Los Angeles, California, Fri, 22 Jan 1999**

"Oh, God! Oh, God! Please! Let me out! He's going to kill me! Please! Please! Let me out!" The terrified young woman screamed banging the glass wall separating her from the people watching. Then the vampire grabbed her, and in a flash, his fangs tore into her throat. A blissful expression appeared on the vampire's eyes as he devoured the woman's blood and soul.

As Adam Dellera, the nearly seven-hundred-year-old vampire looked at the newborn true vampire killing the woman a sense of depression ate at him—the kind of depression that was hard to identify. "It is fascinating, even without any human memories our predatory instincts still work," he said.

"And it looks like devouring the soul and memories with the blood is ingrained in us," Helena, Adam's oldest vampire daughter noted.

Adam nodded. "So, it seems. Helena, you do know that you now must erase the woman's memories from his mind? Alexander Harris cannot have any memories about this time when he wakes up."

"Yes, Adam, I know that we cannot let him change the history any more than he will just by being there. I will erase his memory again, but you know as well as I that he needed to feed before he becomes history," Helena said, placing her tiny palm against the cold glass. "My new son needs his mother," she continued and phased through the five-inch bulletproof glass into the room.

When feral newborn vampire, apparently recognizing his Sire, kneeled before her, Helena caressed his bloody cheek. "Oh, my beautiful boy, I'm sorry that I cannot be there to guide you during the first century of your new life," she said and then she frowned when Xander whimpered burying his face into his hands. "Oh, dear. I know, I know, all those terrible female memories that do not fit your body are confusing, aren't they? Dear boy, will you let me help you with those memories?"

As Xander Harris hissed like a snake, spittle glistened on his lower lip as his upper lip curled back into a sneer revealing his fangs. "You! Help! Me?" He screamed with a good imitation of the terrified voice of the woman he had just killed.

Helena smiled at him, gently cupping his face. "Yes, my precious boy, I can help you with those awful and confusing memories." The newborn true vampire's eyes rolled the back of his head, and he slumped on the floor. "His mind is a tabula rasa now, and he will be unconscious for a while," Helena said.

"Good," Adam said and turned to look at the Wolfram and Hart lawyer standing beside him. "Mr. Manners is everything ready for the spell?"

"Yes, Lord Dellera, everything is ready, we only need Mr. Harris to stay still," Manners said.

"My boy will sleep for half an hour or so. You can start," Helena said.

"Good," Adam said. "Helena, come out with the girl. We are going to start."

Helena lifted the woman on her lap and phased through the wall. She gently placed the body of the woman on a chair and then looked at Adam. "She's going to be my new granddaughter."

Adam sighed deeply as he turned to Holland Manners. "Did you really think you can steal one of mine from me?"

"We hoped that you would not notice that the girl was a virgin," Manners calmly said. "But she is, as you said, one of yours and we won't try to stop you if you take her with you."

Adam shook his head, knowing that the only way for Wolfram and Hart to back off that fast was that they had some backup plan. Most likely, the woman had a contract with them, a contract that bound her beyond death. He telepathically told as much to Helena who answered that she already had figured it out.

"We are taking her with us," Helena smiled innocently at Holland Manners. "And, if you have any kind of contract with her, I suggest you release her from it right now. Because, if you ever try to control my granddaughter the whole Dellera True Vampire coven will come after Wolf, Ram, and Hart. And, you know us; we can destroy you AND the Circle of the Black Thorn if we want to."

Manner's eyes widened. "You know about Black Thorn?"

"Yes, just like Wolfram and Hart, I have spies everywhere, and I'm a very well informed woman," Helena said, "she is ours now, release her from all contracts you have with her, is that clear?"

"Yes, Lady Helena, I will see that she'll be free from us."

"Good," Helena said.

"Helena, we don't have time for this. We'll destroy Wolfram and Hart if needed, but now we have Xander Harris to worry about," Adam said. "Mr. Manners, you should hurry. I can sense Harris's mind starting to wake up."

"Yes, of course," Manners said. "Lady Helena, if you would be kind enough to give the coven leader the time and GPS coordinates."

Helena handed a note to a young warlock who raised his brow as he read it. "This is an exact date. Bending time is hard, and we cannot be that accurate, the best we can do is an approximate decade," the warlock said.

"If that's too accurate then… The Carpathian Mountains, 1350 A.D. give or take half a century," Adam said.

The warlock nodded solemnly. "That we can do."

"How long will it take?" Adam asked.

"Not long," The warlock said. "However, if you want Mr. Harris to stay in that time and not come back when the spell ends, I must carve some runes into his body."

"Do it. Anything you do to his body cannot harm him anymore," Adam said.

The warlock went into the glass room and using a scalpel carved runes into Xander Harris' chest. Then the warlock, using Xander's blood, drew a mystical circle around him. When the circle was finished, he came out and closed the door behind him.

Then the thirty-six magic users started to chant. After a few minutes, the room was filled with white light, and with a soft pop, the air in the room filled the space where the boy had been a few seconds earlier. All the witches and warlocks in the room fell unconscious on the floor.

"That was anticlimactic," Adam said.

"Real magic often is," Holland Manners said, turning to Gavin. "Are you sure that the message to Lady Helena was delivered and Mr. Harris was delivered to exact coordinates and approximate time Lord Dellera gave you?"

"Yes, Sir. The message to Lady Helena was delivered," Gavin replied looking at the computer screen. "and we have records of the first sightings of The Beast from 1384 near Târgoviște, Romania where one of our operatives reported that a naked vampire followed by a pack of wolves killed a bear," Gavin gave Adam a solemn nod. "Lord Dellera, I am sure that you have arrived Carpathian Mountains 1350 AD give or take half a century."

"I have arrived?" Adam asked, raising his gray eyebrow. "You knew all along that I'm Xander Harris?" he asked.

"Lord Dellera, do you think that we are idiots? When it became clear that Lady Helena had turned Mr. Harris, and also wanted us to deliver a message a month back in time to herself, it did not take us for a long to realize why you wanted to send Alexander Harris to the 14th century. You may look a lot different than Mr. Harris, but, in Moldavia, 1526, when you opened your account in Wolfram and Hart, you didn't look like the older man you are right now. We take pictures of all our clients. Of course, back then it was an artist who drew the picture," Holland Manners said, pointing at the computer screen.

Adam looked at the painting of him on the screen, and then he sighed and shifted back to his natural form as a teen boy. "Oh, well, it doesn't matter anymore, Xander is where he belongs, and I'm free from the time loop that I've been living the past 668 years," Adam said taking the body of the woman his younger self had just killed into his lap. He could sense how the true vampire magic already was changing her body.

* * *

**Los Angeles, California, Sat, 23 Jan 1999**

Adam was sitting on a cafe terrace, watching the sunset, drinking tea, while an endless stream of varied humanity struggled by. He had just said farewell to Helena who had taken his newest vampire child with her to London, and now he wondered what he would do next.

"Did you know that yesterday was my birthday?" Adam asked.

"No, I didn't know that Papa," Nico, Adam's vampire grandson, replied.

"Well, it was my birthday, and yesterday I asked Helena to turn my younger self into a vampire before I made him history. Quite a birthday present to myself, eh?"

"Helena says that Alexander Harris had to be turned into a vampire and sent back in time or the time itself would have gone awry," Nico said.

"I know, but it still doesn't make me feel any better about killing and turning my younger self even if Helena did the actual deed," Adam said, "I still feel strange sort of guilt about stealing my own life from my younger self."

Since he got back Xander Harris' memories, he had noticed that Xander's memories were slowly changing his personality. He had an urge to go back to Sunnydale and start living as Xander Harris. It was tempting to start living as a human, it had been nearly sixty years since he'd interacted with the mortals. fifty-seven-years he had been buried under the Ayer's Rock in Australia, and he'd still be buried there if Helena had not come to wake him up.

Adam sighed, feeling the pain of losing his wife back in 1942 almost as badly as he'd felt it back then.

Almost, but not quite.

Now he was ready to continue living again.

He turned to look at his vampire grandson. "Nico, should I go back to Sunnydale and start living as Xander Harris or not?"

"I don't know, papa, but whatever you do, please, don't go back to the deep sleep. Mom and Helena stopped living when you were asleep. They become ghosts of themselves. Helena just sat reading her books never leaving home, and Lina became almost catatonic when you were asleep," the beautiful boy looked at him with his blood-red eyes, "Papa, please, don't go back to the deep sleep. I missed you and mama and grandma when you were sleeping."

Adam looked at him for a moment, and then he closed his eyes and reached with his mind and contacted Helena and Lina, his eldest vampire daughters. He then replayed his discussion with Nico to them and telepathically asked, _[Is Nico telling the truth, did you two stopped living when I was in deep sleep?] _

There was a short pause before both, reluctantly, answered that his grandson had told the truth. Adam sighed, scolded his daughters, and then disconnected from their minds. "I told them not to do that again," he said.

"I don't think they can help themselves. Mama and Helena are too deeply connected to you to live normally when they lose their connection."

"Huh? What does that mean?"

"Matthias has this theory that because you have given your blood to mama and Helena so many times, it has created a permanent blood connection. And when Helena and Lina lose that connection to your mind, like drug addicts they start having withdrawals, and that is why they cannot function when you're in a deep sleep," Nico said. "Matthias' theory sounds about right, especially because Helena and mama are the only ones who are affected by your absence."

"So, when I did my best to make them more powerful to protect them, I also created a permanent blood connection that makes them depressed when I'm asleep, and they cannot feel me?"

"Exactly," Nico said.

"Noted," Adam said, "have you kept your eyes on Pearl Jones as I ordered?"

Nico rolled his eyes. "Papa, why are you so obsessed about her? Sure, she's beautiful, but you've never even approached her. She doesn't even know that you exist."

"I actually met Pearl before she was turned, but I couldn't seduce her back then. It'd been wrong because she already was dating the man she later married."

Nico burst into laughter. "Papa, you've destroyed cities and devoured whole armies. Can't you see how ridiculous it is that you think that sleeping with an engaged or married woman is wrong?"

"Well, excuse me for having moral values," Adam said, "I'm interested in Pearl mostly because I'm curious to see what she'll make herself. I expect her to reach for the heights that I haven't seen since Vlad. Pearl Jones might be powerful enough to someday leave her body behind and become a mother of a new True Vampire bloodline."

"And the fact that she is an incredibly beautiful brunette woman and you've always been attracted to brunettes doesn't have anything to do with your fascination about Pearl Jones?"

"I've dated a few blonds too," Adam said. "But I admit that I was enamored the moment I saw her. So, how is she doing?"

The next half an hour, Adam listened to his grandson telling what had happened to Pearl Jones. Adam was glad that Nico and a few others had helped the young vampiress with the Gray Trader incident and some other nearly world-ending situations.

"I should have killed the trader when I sensed his birth," Adam said after Nico had finished.

"Yeah, we should've killed him," Nico admitted.

"Can you arranged a meeting with Pearl and me?"

"I can do that," Nico said, "We cannot compel Pearl, but I can tell my daughter to compel the werewolves Pearl is hunting to come to you. Since those werewolves killed her progeny, we can be quite sure that Pearl will follow them to you."

"Tell your daughter not to underestimate Pearl, she is much more powerful than she looks to be. Tell..." Adam raised his eyebrow. "Is it Natasha who is following Pearl or have you made any other daughters?"

Nico rolled his eyes. "No, I have not turned anyone while you were sleeping."

"Thank God for the little favors. This family doesn't need more troublemakers. You and Natasha are quite enough," Adam said.

Nico chuckled. "And who is the worst troublemaker in the family?"

"You are," Adam said.

"And what if I ask Helena and Lina?"

"I'm the patriarch of this family, you should listen to me and not the boring voices of reason. Helena and Lina are dull and practical and... well, boring." grinning Adam said.

Nico laughed. "Which is why you let them rule the family. But it is nice to know that the 57-year sleep hasn't changed you a bit."

"Did anyone expect it to change me?" Adam asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"No, not really," Nico said. "But it is also nice to see that you got over your depression."

"I'm not depressed anymore, but I'm still mourning Hanna," Adam said. "But, seriously; tell Natasha to be careful. Angering Pearl is not wise, she might not be able to kill us, but she might be powerful enough to hurt us."

"Noted; send a message that angering Pearl Jones is not wise," Nico said. "If she'll going to guide the wolves to you, Nat needs to know where to find you."

Adam gulped the hot tea down and then leaned back in his chair. He watched the last rays of sun disappearing and smiled when he felt a slight pang of fear as the night descended. He felt as if he had Xander Harris inside him. They weren't just another set of blood memories; it wasn't just another soul he had stored inside him.

Xander Harris was who he was.

Sure, he'd had many names during his long life, and he was a monster.

He was Adam the Beast, the Butcher of Rome, but he also was Xander Harris.

Adam looked at his vampire grandson. "I don't know what I'm going to do when I get there, but I'm going to Sunnydale."

* * *

**California, ****Sun, 24 Jan**** 1999**

Pearl Jones stepped hard on the gas pedal of her old Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454. The motor roared as the car shot forward. For eight months and six days, Pearl had hunted for the werewolves who had killed Calvin, she had already killed four of them, but three had fled her. They had been running all around America, and eight months they had been a step ahead of her.

But four hours earlier one of her contacts in VMS had sent her evidence that the trio had killed a young couple in Southern California wilderness, and the rigor mortis had not yet taken over the bodies when her contact had sent the message to her. Finally, she knew where they were.

Pearl turned the steering wheel, and the tires whined as the car got into a four-wheel-slide. When the car got out of the bend, Pearl pushed the gas pedal to the floor and the car shot forward like a missile from a cannon. Pearl loved driving her old muscle car through the dark mountain roads with their tight curves, steep inclines, and narrow drop-offs.

Two hours later, she came on a crossing, she paused and looked at the map; she was only an hour drive away from the place where the werewolves had last been seen. She put the map away and drove off. An hour later, she rode her car into the woods and parked it under a tree.

When she opened the car door, her nose was filled with the wild smells of the forest, her ears with the sounds of the birds, rodents, insects, and the wind brushing through the leaves.

Pearl was a farm girl; she had always loved the smell of forest and wilderness.

As she ran into the forest, the full moon casts a bright light among the trees that surrounded her. Pearl looked at the horizon until the sky turned blood red, which slowly was replaced by pink. When the first rays of the sun licked her body, Pearl undressed and laid down on the ground to enjoy the warmth of the Californian sun, and soon she fell into a dreamless sleep.

Next evening, she woke up when the sun was setting, she loved to watch sunset almost as much as she loved to look at the sunrise. After the sun had disappeared behind the horizon, she dressed up and began to hunt; she was hungry. Half an hour later she caught a mountain lion, and after she had had enough, she left the body for scavengers to devour.

Three nights she had been hunting in the wilderness when she finally caught the scent trail of the prey she had come to kill. Pearl began to follow the scent trail of the werewolves, leaping over the rocks, bushes, and fallen trees. It didn't take her for a long to find the remains of the werewolf pack; they were stalking for the humans camped in a few hundred yards away.

Just when Pearl was about to jump on them, one of the beasts sensed her and turned to look at her. "The Huntress found us!" He cried.

All three of them turned around and ran away faster than Pearl had expected. She ran after them, but soon they separated and momentarily Pearl wasn't sure whom to follow. Then she ran after the biggest of them. She was in no hurry, now that she had caught his scent, he could not escape from her. Next forty minutes she hunted the werewolf.

When she caught him, she leaped on him, and her fangs sunk in his jugular, and the werewolf blood gushed into her. As they were rolling on the ground, Pearl wrapped her arms and legs around the werewolf and drained him of the blood that made him an immortal beast.

When there was an only empty shell of a man left, Pearl ripped his head off. She washed the blood and dirt off in a creek and then ran back to the place where the beasts had separated. The next hour she followed the scent trail of one of them.

Two hours later the other wolf joined him and not long after that Pearl found herself from a small all-American town, and the following their scent became harder. Pearl frowned as she walked through the streets; the town smelled awful, and she could smell the scents of dozens of vampires.

Pearl made a mental note to call Felicia, the current head of the Vassals of the Morning Star, who might know more about the small town like that that harbored so many vampires. When Pearl finally caught the werewolves, they weren't alone; they had surrounded a young girl. She put her fingers into her mouth and whistled.

"Run!" she commanded when the werewolves turned to look at her. For once, the victim wasn't an idiot; the girl started to run away.

Pearl lunged at one of the beasts, cutting it with a silver knife and the werewolf clawed her side. She hissed and stopped moving, waiting for the beast to attack again. When it leaped at her Pearl slid smoothly under him, then lunged up to shove the silver blade into the werewolf's heart. The beast was dead when it hit the wall.

From the corner of her eye, she saw another werewolf coming toward her, and before she had time to dodge the beast crashed on her. When they both hit the street, Pearl tasted his delicious, thick, and potent blood in her mouth as she pushed her claws into the beast's neck. She pulled hard, and the head of the werewolf came off.

She pushed the werewolf off her and jumped up to face the last of them.

Her eyes widened when she saw a bloody hand holding still beating heart sticking out of the chest of the beast. Then the hand disappeared, and the massive body of the werewolf was tossed away like a rag doll. Pearl stared at the brunette boy as he licked the blood in his hand and groaned. "I hate the taste of Abonium Canis; the virus makes them taste vile. Cursed werewolves' blood tastes much better," the boy said and smiled at Pearl. "Hi, Pearl, do you remember me?"

Pearl stared at the boy; there was something familiar in him. It took a moment for her to remember where she had met him. Mostly because it was 1999 and she had not expected to meet someone she'd met before she was turned into a vampire.

Pearl nodded. "Yes, I do remember you. You're Adam Wallace, you were a Set Designer in Hollywood back in 1925."

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised that you remember me after seventy-four years."

Pearl smiled at the young vampire. "You are a hard man to forget. You were one of the few men working in Hollywood who always treated women with respect. You were nothing like most of the men in Hollywood."

"Women in my life have taught me that they deserve to be respected just as much as men. Maybe even more so, since men are respected just because they are men while women usually need to work for it."

Pearl smiled at that, "You still are an exceptional man," she said. "Were you a vampire back when I met you for the first time?"

"Yeah, I've been a vampire for a long, long, looooong time," the boy said, offering his bloody hand to her. "May I introduce myself; I'm Alexander Harris, but my friends call me Xander."

"Pearl Preston," Pearl shook the hand, and when she pulled her hand back, it was covered with blood and instinctively, she licked the blood and hissed. "You are right; it tastes awful," she said, sniffing the air, "You don't smell like any of the vampire species I've met."

Xander smiled at her, "That's because you haven't met a true vampire. However, you've met a vampire who had my blood in him."

"Who?"

"The first of the Carpathians," Xander said. "I let him drink my blood to pay him for saving my daughter's life."

Pearl stared at the boy, he didn't look to be dangerous, but she had learned not to judge the vampire by his body. She wondered if the boy-vampire could call other vampires like Dracula had been able to do.

_[Oh, I can do that and much more. His psychic powers were watered down versions of mine,]_ the vampire boy's voice said inside her mind. "He wasn't Dracula, by the way. He was just a wealthy merchant."

"I never really thought that he was Dracula," Pearl said. "I've been studying vampires for almost half a century. To me, Bram Stoker's book seems to be a fairytale."

"The book is a fairytale, Stoker never met him, but Dracula exists, and he compelled the merchant you met to pretend to be himself. Vlad does that to make it look as if he can be in many places at once," the boy-vampire said, looking at his bloody arm. "Excuse me, I have to clean myself," he said, and Pearl's eyes widened when the boy-vampire seemed to dissolve to a cloud of mist and when he emerged again, he and his bloody clothes were clean.

"But… how?" Pearl asked.

"It is an easy trick when you have left the human body behind," Xander said.

"Huh? The human body behind?"

"All the strange and magical things about vampires' abilities you've ever heard are true, but only us True Vampires can do those things."

"True vampires?"

"We're sort of the most evolved vampire species," he said. "There are three types of vampires. Most vampires are just reanimated corpses. They're reanimated either by a blood virus or a blood demon inside them—"

"Blood demon?" Pearl asked.

"Aurelius line vampires are just demon-infested corpses," Xander explained. "Anyway, the reanimated corpses make about 99% of all vampires regardless of their bloodline. Then there are us, True Vampires, but there is only a handful of us in the world. And, finally; there are vampires like you. Vampires who were born as normal revenants, but who become more than that," he smiled, "you are Pearl among swines… or among reanimated corpses, to be exact. You, my dear girl, have the potential to become the first of a new True Vampire bloodline."

"Can you tell more about the true vampires?" Pearl asked. "about their abilities, history... everything. I'm sort of a vampire historian."

"I know, and I will tell you everything. But it is not the discussion I want to have in a dark alley. There is a nice little coffee shop nearby. We can continue this discussion there," he said, offering his arm to her. "And I have a proposition for you."

"What kind of proposition?"

"I want you to become my student and my protegee."

"Why would I do that?"

"You are feeling as if you have seen it all. Not only are you bored but you are miserable and slightly suicidal too. You are looking for something that would make your life worth living. I cannot take your misery away but I can make your life a little less boring. I can entertain you, at least, for a few years."

Pearl looked at his arm for a moment wondering how he knew that she was bored to death? Then she shrugged and slid her arm into his. "I'll give you two weeks to convince me to become your pupil."

* * *

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

"If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation."

** — Abigail Adams**

***=0=***

* * *

**Sunnydale, CA, Feb 1999**

As Xander walked through the Sunnydale High School's hallways, he groaned in annoyance. The smells were terrible. The High School smelled sweat, perfumes, and, most annoyingly, sex pheromones. Shaking his head Xander got into the classroom. He looked around; when he'd decided to come back to High School, he had not remembered how terribly young and innocent the students were.

It had been almost a hundred years since he'd been a student, and back then, he'd been a Medical student. He had been in High School only as Xander Harris and from his point of view that had happened 668 years ago.

Making a mental note to update his medical knowledge Xander sat down. He smiled when Willow walked into the classroom. He loved the slender redhead; she was his sister. That was an almost overwhelming feeling, he had a large vampire family, but Helena and Willow were his only sisters. That made them special to him, but Willow even more so; she was a mortal. She would live only six or seven decades, and Xander wanted to spend most of those short decades with her.

He would do anything to protect the redhead girl. As the class started, he looked out of the window. He didn't pay much attention to the History class. They were going through the American Revolutionary war, and he had been there. He'd even met some of the men who signed the United States Declaration of Independence.

Xander had not thought much about them; he'd seen more than his share of brave and intelligent men like them. But John Adam's wife, Abigail Adams, had been a different case. Xander had respected the brilliant woman and even idolized her to a degree. He wondered why Abigail Adams had not gotten the place in the history that she deserved? She had been much more than just a wife of John Adams and a First Lady. She'd been a keen supporter of women's equality, and her writings had planted the seed that hundred years later started the women's liberation movement.

Xander smiled when he sensed Pearl entering the school. He liked the young American vampire, and he was sure that she was destined for greatness. Pearl now worked as the Sunnydale High School's nurse. Since Pearl had worked with Watcher's Council before, Giles knew that she was on the right side of the supernatural battle. That had helped when they had told the Scoobies that Pearl had accidentally infected him with her type of vampirism.

Buffy and Willow had not taken it well.

Buffy had even tried to stake him.

Only when Angel had asked her if she was willing to kill him too had Buffy stopped trying to kill him. That had surprised Xander; he had not expected the revenant with the soul to defend him. Angel and Oz were the reason why Xander had decided to pretend to be American Vampire. Even if he could pretend to be a human, Xander wasn't sure he could fool the enhanced senses of a werewolf and revenant vampire forever.

He'd fabricated the story of him becoming an American Vampire because, even though he could breathe and he could keep his heart beating, those weren't natural for him. Xander was sure that eventually, he'd forget to breathe and keep his heart beating, and Angel and Oz would have noticed that. Now that the other Scoobies thought him to be an American vampire, he didn't have to worry about his heartbeat.

He only needed to make his heart say boom once in a while.

When the bell rang, Xander gathered his books into his bag and went to Willow.

"Will, do you want to have lunch with me?"

"No," Willow said.

"Uh, okay," Xander sighed, feeling a bit disappointed and wanting to read her mind, but he had promised himself that he wouldn't do that. He wouldn't read the minds of his friends unless it was a life and death situation. After she had learned that he was a vampire, Buffy still didn't trust him, but Willow had accepted that her best friend had been turned into a vampire with a soul surprisingly fast.

Maybe she now was having second thoughts about accepting his vampirism?

"No, no, no, I'm not saying no because you're… uh… you know what you are…" Willow said, "…anyway, I'm saying no to lunch because Buffy told me that we should go to Library because Giles has something to tell."

"Oh, okay," Xander said. "That's okay then… do you know what it is?"

"No," Willow said.

"Well, we'll gonna find soon enough," Xander said as they walked toward the Library. When they got to the Library everyone was there. Xander raised his eyebrow when he saw Angel lurking in the shadows. "Has anyone else ever wondered how Angel gets into the school during the days?"

Wesley blinked. "Um, no, not really, but now that you asked about it," he turned to look at Angel. "I'm curious to hear the explanation. How do you get into the school during the day?"

"From the sewers," Angel said.

"Oh, that—" Wesley said.

"...means that the school is not a safe place even during the day. Vampires can come in anytime they want, and they can just pick students like ripe apples. All they have to do is to stay away from the windows and reach for the apple and sunk their fangs into the core of the apple and suck it dry from the juice," Xander frowned. "Did I go too far with the apple simile?"

"Metaphor," Willow paused, "actually, I'm not sure if it was a metaphor. It might be a simile too. I mean, you did say_ 'like ripe apples'_ and—"

"Willow, no offense, but we don't want to hear a lecture about the differences between simile and metaphor," Buffy said.

Willow blushed. "Oh, okay," she said and smiled at Xander. "no, you didn't go too far with the apple thing-y."

"And Xander made a good point too," Giles said. "Angel, how hard is for a vampire to come here during the day?"

"Only I know the entrance from sewers to the school basement," annoyed Angel said.

"Um, in that case, you, you, should be extra careful. Make sure that no one is following you so that you won't—" Giles said.

"Show the entrance to the school to other vampires," Angel said. "I know, and I'm always careful."

"Right, now that is settled, and we can continue as planned," Wesley said, "The first item on the minutia is the message I got from the Head of the Council. He told me to cooperate with the agents of the Vassals of the Morning Star, and that includes Ms. Jones and her new progeny, Mr. Harris."

"I'm pretty sure that Pearl isn't my mom," Xander said.

"Excuse me?" Wesley asked.

"Doesn't progeny mean a child?" Xander asked.

"Not exactly, it means offspring or descendant, in this case, it means that Pearl Jones is the one who turned you," Wesley said.

"It was an accident; she didn't mean to do it. The werewolf threw me on her, and she bled on me and with the American vampires the infection is so contagious that only a droplet will turn humans," Xander said.

"Be that as it may, Ms. Jones still is your sire," Giles said.

"I prefer to be called a maker," Pearl said. "and we have wandered off from the point of this meeting."

"Ah, yes, you are absolutely right, Ms. Jones," Wesley said. "The second reason I asked you to come is that it appears that El Elminati has settled in Sunnydale. Happily, Balthazar was killed. I don't know by whom, but El Eliminati still is a very dangerous cult. Balthazar had an amulet purported to give him strength. When he was killed, it was taken by a wealthy landowner named Gleaves. It was buried with him, and I believe the few remaining Eliminati are probably looking for it. For sentimental value. You should be careful when patrolling, and I'd appreciate it if you'd try to find out where they are staying."

Xander leaned back on his chair, wondering if Wesley was right about Balthazar's death. The grossly obese vampire had escaped death more than a few times. It was true that no one had seen him in ages, but his sword-wielding minions popped up from time to time, which suggested that he still was alive.

That Xander couldn't tell the others because, vampire or not, eighteen-year-old Xander wouldn't know things like that. So, he telepathically told Pearl all that he knew about Balthazar. Then Pearl passed that information forward to the others.

"Ms. Jones, are you sure that Balthazar is alive?" Giles asked.

"No, but they are demon breed vampires, and without a leader, they would have dissolved ages ago. Even if Balthazar isn't alive, El Eliminati vampires still are ruled by a Master vampire who is powerful enough to control the others," Pearl said.

Giles nodded. "That's true. Without a Master, the cult would have dissolved, and it doesn't matter if the Master is Balthazar or someone else, he still is too dangerous not to be taken seriously." He said, "Buffy, please, try to find the Master of the El Eliminati but do not confront them. Unlike the vampires whom you usually meet, El Eliminati members are trained fighters, and we need Faith and a plan to take them down. Just try to find them, and when we know where their lair is, we will start planning how to take them down."

"Excuse me," Wesley said, "I believe that, as the only one employed the Council, I'm the person who will give commands to the Slayers."

Giles glanced at him and sat down. "Oh, pardon me, your Highness, I forgot my place. Milord Watcher Supreme, please share your wisdom with us, lowly peasants." All the others stared at him as if he had grown another head. "What?" Giles asked.

"Uh, Giles, you… you're not normally that sarcastic…" baffled Buffy said.

"Yeah, but that was great!" Xander declared. "Spot on sarcasm and dead-on sardonic delivery. I'll give it ten points out of ten."

"Me too," giggling Willow said. "Ten points for both the delivery and artistic impression."

Buffy started to giggle too. "I'd give it 9.5 for technic and 10 for the execution," she said and gave thumbs up to Giles before she turned around and walked out of the Library.

"Miss Summers! Where are you going? I wasn't finished yet!" Wesley yelled after her.

"Don't bother yelling at her or going after her. She's far gone by now, and she's going to Willy's to bang his head on the table until he tells her where to find El Eliminati," Xander said. "Wes, you should try what Giles does."

"Excuse me? What is that?" Wesley asked.

"Instead of giving her commands, tell her what to do," Xander said.

"Don't those two mean the same thing?" baffled Wesley asked.

"No. When you're giving commands, you're trying to control her. That won't work, like any teen Buffy wants to be respected. If you just order her without showing any respect, she'll rebel against you. G-man has always shown respect to Buffy, try that," Xander said, and then he left the Library followed by Pearl.

Giles watched them leaving, and then he turned to Wesley. "I apologize for my earlier burst; it was uncalled for, and I shouldn't have done it in front of the kids."

Wesley nodded. "No, you should not have done it in front of them, but still, I accept your apology… now… was the boy right in his assessment of Slayer Summers?"

"Yes, I believe so. Like most teens, especially American teens, Buffy wants to be respected, and she hates to feel left out even more than ordinary American teen girl. So, instead of giving her commands, I explain why she should do something before I tell her to do it. Explaining takes only a few seconds, and it gives her a feeling that I respect her enough to tell her why she should do what I ask her to do. That tactic has never failed me; she's always done what I tell her to do," Giles smirked, "just don't tell her that she's that easy to control."

Wesley looked at him for a moment. "That is not how I was taught to treat the Slayer."

"No, but that, um, that is how you will do it if you want her to do your bidding," Giles said, "Faith, on the other hand, is a harder case to crack, she, she changes her attitude every time I think I have figured her out. I'm not sure how to handle her, but I, uh, I can assure you that trying to control Faith will not work. However, Faith loves her job, so just telling her to go and kill things often is enough." he sighed. "Wesley, I know that you were taught that the Slayer is a tool at worst, and a soldier in a war at best, and that you are her commander. But in the real world, the Slayer is a teen girl, and since neither Buffy nor Faith was Council raised, you have to be cunning to make things work with them."

***=0=***

* * *

Later that night Pearl blinked as she watched Xander carrying a woman into the basement of his house. She could smell that the woman was a vampire. "Shouldn't their species be invited to get inside the house?" she asked.

"Only if it is a human home and neither of us is a human, so even when I own this place the invitation magic doesn't work. I know enough magic to perform the barrier spell that acts much like invitation magic, but… well, you and I, we're the most powerful beings in Sunnydale, so what's the point?" Xander said, tossing the blond vampiress on the floor. "As a revenant, she's a good Guinea pig, and she's young, even younger than you are, she won't have a lot of memories to suck in."

Pearl snorted, she was ninety-nine-years-old, and it amused her that a teen boy called her young, even if, compared to him, she probably was very young. "You never told me how old you are," she said.

"Counting my human years, I'm 686-years-old," Xander said and kicked the vampiress. "What's your name?"

"Sunday," the vampiress said.

Xander rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure, and I'm Lestat," he said and then grinned at Pearl. "You know, my grandson says that he dated Anne Rice before she married and jokingly told her that he's a vampire. Nico claims that Lestat is based on him. It might be true. Lestat and Nico both are blond, handsome French noblemen, and they both were wolf hunters before they were turned. Then again, Nico also is a pathological liar."

Pearl shook her head; she had gotten used to hearing Xander telling outlandish stories about his vampire family. She never could tell if the man was lying or not, which is why she had decided not to believe any of his stories. "Sure, he is," she said, "and you're Lord Ruthven."

"No, there are paintings and sculptures and poems and songs about me, and I've appeared in a few books, but Polidori's Vampyre is not one of them," Xander said. Then he turned back to the blond vampiress. "Anyway, revenant, I want to know your real name."

"Nina Davies," the vampiress said with a monotonous voice.

"That is a much better name than Sunday, which is a ridiculous name for a revenant who cannot go out to the sunlight," Xander glanced at Pearl. "Names have power, and a wise vampire doesn't change his name to something that sounds sinister. Hunters want to hunt Dracula or Angelus. Telling people that you're hunting terrifying vampire Angelus sounds much better than telling that you're hunting Barney the Vampire. Subconsciously the vampire hunters think that is it really worth the effort to catch Barney?" he said. "I once hunted him, you know?"

"You hunted vampire named Barney?" Pearl asked.

"No, Angelus who now goes by the name Angel," Xander said. "Well, actually, I just was part of a team that hunted Angelus and Darla. I joined Holtz's vampire hunters because I was bored, and I have always loved a good hunt, and I hate revenants. Back then, I often hunted vampires as a part of the Council or the Iscariot and later I was part of the Vassal's of the Morning Star's elite team," Xander said. "Anyway… I brought Nina here for you to drain her. Maybe this time, you will figure out how to take her blood memories."

"You cannot just tell me that you joined Vassal's vampire hunters and then leave it there," Pearl said.

"I'll tell you about my history as a vampire hunter as soon as you've drained Nina here," Xander said. "Have you been doing the mental exercises I gave you?"

"Yes," Pearl said, looking at the vampiress sitting on the floor. "What's wrong with her? Why is she so calm?"

"Her screams hurt my ears, so I compelled… I sort of hypnotized her to silence her up. Now, please, dear girl, try to take her blood memories, and after that, I'll tell you about my early career as a vampire hunter."

Pearl hissed and snapped her fangs out, grabbing the vampire by the throat. As she lifted her, she went through the mental preparations for taking blood memories. Then she sunk her fangs into the vampire's jugular. Pearl grimaced, as the vile tasting blood entered her mouth. Ignoring the awful taste, she closed her eyes and did her best to connect her victim, trying to enter her memories.

The blood flow stopped without any memories. She had drained the vampire from the blood. As Pearl dropped the vampire's empty shell on the floor, her fingers turned into razor-sharp claws. She slashed on the head of the vampire, and it exploded to ash.

"I think it is bullshit. Blood cannot carry any memories."

Xander smiled. "It does, but I expected it to take time for you to learn how to do it. After all, it's not natural for you to take their blood memories."

"I still don't think it is possible," Pearl said. "You promised to tell me how you joined the Vassals of the Morning Star."

"That I did," Xander said, "it started back in 1643… well, actually, I guess it started 1524 when I met a monk who also worked for the Watcher's Council."

"Huh? What do Vassals have to do with Watchers?"

"Not a thing, but they have an agreement, and sometimes they do work together. The demon-hunting community is quite small; people know each other either personally or by the reputation. I promised to tell you about my career as a vampire hunter. But to do that I have to start from the beginning. It started back in 1524 when I met a monk who worked for the Watcher's Council. He was a good friend and a scholar, and he told me all about the vampire hunting organizations. After I left him, I traveled around Europe, got a few new nicknames, destroyed a couple of towns… you know, I did all the things that the bored vampires do. …anyway, I loved the war and bloody battlegrounds, and I fought in wars all around Europe.

"Then, during the English Civil war, I saw a guy who was surrounded by six revenants—if you haven't noticed, I call Aurelian line vampires as revenants. The man was a damn good swordsman. I watched him beheading all six revenants. I was baffled, I'd never seen a human cut off heads as easily with a broadsword. Beheading a man with a sword needs strength and a lot of experience.

"The swordsman who had killed the revenants was a human, but there was something strange in his scent. His scent sort of tickled my nose; he smelled a lot like the ground after a bolt of lightning had hit on it. I was curious, and I went to talk to him, and a few hours later, we were drinking beer in the tavern. Alexander, as he introduced himself—although I later learned that his real name was Methos—and I got along well, we had a similar sense of humor. He and I became friends. He was—is—an immortal man, not a monster, just an immortal man, and he was so old that he couldn't even remember how old he was."

"That is a fascinating story. I've heard rumors about Immortal humans, but what does that have to do with your career as a vampire hunter?" Pearl asked.

Xander smiled. "Patience, my padawan, have some patience."

"I've never been a very patient woman, and I never liked Star Wars movies."

"Most vampires are impatient… I wonder why that is? Why are we so impatient even though we have all the time in the world?" Xander said and then shook his head. "Never mind… Okay, I'll skip my adventures with Methos and get straight to the reason why I told you about him. When we met, Methos was researching the origins of his kind. He had infiltrated into the Vatican Section XIII because he needed to get some documents from the Vatican's vaults. Iscariot didn't trust him enough to let him into their vaults, but I could help him with those documents. During the sack of Rome back in 1527, Helena and I had looted Vatican's vaults, and among the things we stole was the material Methos wanted to read. I copied them for him, and in return, Methos arranged me into Vatican Section XIII as a trainee demon hunter.

"I'm a predator, and I love hunting and killing revenants and other vampires and demons. I probably have killed more vampires than any other being on the earth... well, not counting Vlad, he's even worse murderer than I am. Then again, he's also quite insane. I'm only slightly insane... more than a little scatterbrained though… what was I saying? Oh, right, not counting Vlad I'm the worst serial mass-murderer of the history. I probably have killed more humans than anyone else… well, what I've read the history the likes of Hitler and Stalin are ahead of me, but they didn't kill by their own hands like I did, I mean, you actually have to have my or Vlad's powers to kill hundreds of thousands at once—"

"You're sidetracking again," Pearl said, she had learned that the old vampire often sidetracked on his stories.

Xander blinked. "Right, sorry… like I said, I'm a bit scatterbrained… where was I?"

"Talking about VMS and Iscariot."

"Oh, right, my first time with the Iscariot… When my time with the Iscariot was over, I got into Watcher's Council's hunting team—back then, the Council respected the Slayer. They always gave her a trained vampire hunting team to work with, it's been just over a century that she's forced to work alone. After I had to leave the Council, I created a new identity and joined another demon hunting team. Most of the 17th and early 18th-centuries, I spent hunting demons and vampires. I kept jumping from one vampire hunter organization to another, and Vassals was one of them."

"How come no one ever realized that you are a vampire?" Pearl asked.

Xander grinned. "Put your hand on my cheek and hold it there."

Pearl did so, and she blinked when she felt his cold cheek getting warmer and warmer. "What the hell, you're getting warm?" she asked and blinked again when his face slowly started to show signs of aging. "You're getting older."

"Yep, that's a neat trick, isn't it? Don't worry, you'll learn it someday. Now, listen to my heart."

Still holding her hand on his now body temperature cheek, she started to listen to his heartbeat, and she frowned when she heard his heart starting to beat just as fast as the human heart. "How can you do all that?"

"It's a kind of magic…" grinning Xander said, "Helena realized that since we can turn into the mist, there should be no limits to our shapeshifting abilities, and then she realized that we have full control of our bodies. The heart is a muscle, making it beat isn't any harder than flexing biceps. By the end of the 16th-century, Helena and I had mastered our human forms. Like I said, as True Vampires, we are not bound by our bodies. In a way, we're just a soul with an ability to gather building blocks of life from the air and mold it to our image."

Pearl stared at him for a moment. "You're a ghost?"

"Sort of, except that we can build bodies or whatever we want from the molecules and atoms and whatnots. Don't ask me about the science behind it; I'm too dumb to understand it. But if you want to know how it works, I can ask Helena to explain it to you."

"No need, I wouldn't understand it anyway. It's enough to know that you're sort of a blood-sucking ghost."

Xander snorted. "Yeah, that covers it nicely," he sighed. "Sometimes I think I'm just a figment of my own imagination."

* * *

TBC


End file.
